Subject: [EarlyRail] HO scale limited edition 40' 1890s furniture boxcar kit
Date: March 23, 2012 7:14:05 PM PDT
Bob McGlone and I are pleased to announce our newest HO scale limited edition kit, a unique 1890s-1900s 40' furniture box car. The prototype for this car was built for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in 1892. The car was very large for its time because it was intended to carry furniture which is a relatively low weight density item [although don’t tell that to my back!]. It had a frame length of 40’ and an inside height that was augmented by the low mount of the floor over the trucks. Plans for the car and a prototype photo came from the 1895 Car Builders Dictionary [and they were also in the 1898 CBD]. It was quite modern for 1892 having both air brake equipment and Janney style knuckle couplers. They show up in Burlington’s number series of 41152 to 41366. Some of these cars were still listed on the roster in 1916. While this kit was specifically designed from this prototype, there are other prototypes out there that might be reasonably modeled - based on how accurate you need to be or how much work you are willing to do. Some examples [with some photos included here] are Madison Alton & Chicago 629, St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern 9920, Wisconsin Central 7720, C>. Look under "Furniture car kit" in the Photos section for pics of both pilot models and the prototypes.
This kit is consistent with our previous multi-media presentations. The one-piece body, doors, floor, and roofwalks are resin castings. Included are trucks by BCW (#134); Walthers Proto Couplers; Tichy detail parts including K-Brakes, rivets, turnbuckles, grabirons, steps,and nbw castings; pedestal bars by Bitter Creek; Brakewheel by PSC; Clover House black nylon for trussrods; styrene strips, wire, detailed illustrated instructions, and everything you need except glue, paint, and lettering for a complete model. Both Clover House and Art Griffin Decals offer lettering for this car either in its original form or for other versions depending on how exacting you want to be and if you want to change grabirons to the ends of the car, etc. Lettering for this car is extremely colorful and unique so if you're not a picky rivet counter you can have a really neat car from this kit as it's offered eeeven if the prototype does not exactly match the lettering you choose to use (and after all, who's still around from 1892 to tell you you're wrong?).
The price of this kit is $38 complete plus postage and we are now taking reservations with an anticipated ship date of mid-April. A reservation is not an ironclad commitment but please make reservations seriously as this is what I use as the basis for ordering resin, parts, etc.
I am most gratified for your support for these limited-edition kits and look forward to continuing to offer you unique items that are just not and, in most cases, have never been commercially available. Thanks and let me know if you have any questions!!